Outstanding Meeting Held in Wilmington

Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association, Inc., The, Jul/Aug 2004 by Hall, Elton

Four Days in May Packed with Interesting Events

On a sunny afternoon, Wednesday, May 12, I found a hole in an intrusive center island on Rt. 202 within sight of the Doubletree Hotel and plunged through to the other side. I could see rows of vehicles with their tailgates open supporting a lively trade. Yet between us stood a steel barrier without opening. Surely, I thought, down at the lower end I could get through. Alas, access was denied me, and there was no remedy but to re-enter Rt. 202 and try again. By the time I found the right entrance and reached the parking lot behind the hotel, of course all the good stuff was gone. Well, maybe some hardware was gone, but there was a host of enthusiastic EAIA members there negotiating and yakking, glad to see one another at the outset of what would be another great meeting.

At seven o'clock that evening over a light supper the board members transacted the business of the association; learned that the auditors had done their work and pronounced our accounts sound; discussed long-range plans, regional meetings, and the membership situation; heard reports from committee chairs; and transacted the routine business. President Parke kept us focused on the agenda, provided gentle restraint to the personal narratives that popped up from time to time, and had us ready to adjourn in a timely manner to rejoin the other members.

At 6:30 Thursday morning, Linda Stanton and her team were out setting up books for sale and were soon surrounded by customers making use of the time before breakfast, which began at 7. We had the usual bountiful buffet requiring a certain restraint on the part of at least some of us. About 8 a.m. a barrage of announcements prepared us for the day as well as future events. We then made our way to the Winterthur Museum, Gardens, and Library for the day's activities. Fellow member Charlie Hummel greeted us in the Copeland Lecture Hall, introduced us to his colleagues in whose care we would spend the day, reviewed the plan, of the day, and turned us over in four groups to work our way through the four sessions, which we would all do in a different order.

My group began with the research library, one of the great repositories of printed books and manuscripts related to American material culture. Librarian Catherine Cooney had arranged a display of early printed books on a variety of subjects related to our interests. For many it was an exciting opportunity to see the original editions of many books that we have known only through reprints. Moxon, Smith's Key, Diderot, and many other old friends were on the tables for us to examine closely.

One of the important elements of Winterthur is that in addition to being one of the great collections of American decorative arts, it is also a teaching museum. In cooperation with the University of Delaware, the museum offers two graduate programs leading to master's degrees in early American culture and in art conservation. Thus the facilities and resources are far more extensive than those ordinarily found even in large museums. Our second visit was the conservation and analytical laboratory where guides took us through a number of workshops including wood, textiles, and ceramics. We were very much impressed by the care with which materials were handled, the complete documentation that accompanied every procedure, and the array of scientific apparatus the conservators had at their disposal.

When we were finished in conservation, it was time for lunch at the visitors center. Many of us chose to head toward it along garden paths and through the woods. While the azaleas were past their prime, there were gorgeous beds of peonies and other spring flowers to delight us. As a matter of expediency, box lunches were ready for our immediate consumption so we wouldn't have to wait m the chow line. That left us time to sit and talk for a while with still enough time for a longer stroll through the magnificent woods and gardens before presenting ourselves at the museum.

After lunch we reported to the rotunda, a display and meeting room in the main museum building where Winterthur staff and volunteers had set up tables for the examination of a wide variety of tools, most of which were not normally available to museum visitors. Of particular interest were planes from the Dominy shop, made famous by Charlie Hummel's wonderful book, With Hammer in Hand. We were allowed to touch them! Tom Elliott was delighted to obtain rubbings from a complete set of Dominy marks.

To examine those tools which we were not permitted to handle, trained guides were there to pick them up, turn them around, and give us any view we wanted. When we were finished in the rotunda, we went outside to a tent under which two treadle lathes were set up-a pole lathe and a bow lathe-both reproductions made by fellow member Mike Podmaniczky from those in the Dominy shop. After Mike gave us some instructions and a demonstration, he encouraged us to step up to the lathes and have a go at it. Most of us did. The day at Winterthur ended with visits to the splendid gift shop, which included a garden shop and the well-stocked book store.